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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

November 16, 2016

Justin Fuente

Greensboro, North Carolina

JUSTIN FUENTE: I guess, first and foremost, I just want to say I'm awfully proud of the most recent academic numbers that have come out. I think it's a great tribute to Coach Beamer and his staff and the job that they did here. We're looking forward to accepting the challenge and doing everything we can to continue that tradition.

On the field, we have a very tough challenge ahead of us this week. Travel to Notre Dame. Our kids have had a good week of practice so far, coming off a tough loss to Georgia Tech.

Q. Hey, Coach. I wanted to ask you about the job C.J. Carroll has done working at punt returner while Greg's out. What have you liked about his play and his work there.
JUSTIN FUENTE: We've been really confident in C.J. the entire year. He got to play a little bit at punt returner early in the year in some of those games that were -- that we were up on them. He's always taken just as many reps as Greg has in punt returns. We trust his judgment and expect him to do a really good job, which I felt like he did do last week.

Q. And when you look at him, he's undersized, but he's played a role offensively. Obviously, you trust him there at punt returner. Is he kind of a cool story, kind of a fun kid to coach?
JUSTIN FUENTE: He's an absolute pleasure. He shows up every day and works his tail off. The moment wasn't too big for him last week, in terms of he really embraces competition. I think he's a competitive person. He's highly intelligent, and I'm awfully happy that he's on our team.

Q. You had mentioned the student side of student-athletes, which goes unnoticed a lot of the time, in your opening address. Just what you can say about that side of it at Virginia Tech and just how important that is for you as a coaching staff moving forward.
JUSTIN FUENTE: Obviously, it is a source of emphasis here, something that we all take great pride in, something that obviously Coach Beamer made an emphasis, and we're going to continue to do that. I think it also starts at the top with Whit Babcock, our athletic director.

The people that do work in our academic services do a fantastic job, and it's really a part of the fabric, or the culture, of Virginia Tech, something that when you get here, you can tell really quickly that it's something that they don't just pay lip service to, but it is an actual priority.

Q. And then with Notre Dame coming up in the matchup, despite the six losses, just what you can say about Notre Dame on film and what type of threat they pose in the game.
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, they've got players now. They've got guys all over the place. I know they struggled a little bit early in the year. They lost a really tough game against Navy a couple weeks ago, but they've got players. Coach Kelly's got those kids playing hard. They're very sound scheme-wise.

When you watch them on film, you have a hard time believing that that's a 4-6 football team, I can tell you that much.

Q. I just wanted to know what you think is the biggest difference between Notre Dame now and at the beginning of the season, kind of when they had that three-game stretch where they just had that losing streak.
JUSTIN FUENTE: I think the biggest thing is they've played better defensively the last several weeks. They made a change six games ago, and they've tweaked some things schematically, but they didn't wholesale change everything. I think that's probably the biggest difference, just looking at film, is they've played much more efficiently defensively.

Q. And when you guys prepare for them -- obviously, they played two option teams the past two weeks, and I think it was earlier this week you may have said that they're playing at a really high level now -- do you look at those two games, or do you look back more to the Miami game or games before that?
JUSTIN FUENTE: The Notre Dame defense versus the Army and Navy offense film is basically null and void to us. I mean, we don't even mess with it because -- I mean, you can look at it and go through it to look at personnel and that sort of stuff, but schematically it's completely different.

Q. Justin, did you get any sense from your players last week that maybe they were pressing or trying to do too much knowing that a win would clinch the Coastal Division for you guys?
JUSTIN FUENTE: I did not, and I hope not. I felt like we were certainly ready to play, and we didn't play as well as we would have liked. Georgia Tech played really well. Credit to them. No, I did not sense that.

Q. When you went back and looked at the tape, were there any similarities to maybe some of the things that you weren't able to do in that game compared to some of the things that didn't work as well against Syracuse?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, I think there were some similarities in terms of defensively we weren't dominant. There have been some games this year that we've been absolutely dominant defensively. We weren't even close to that in Georgia Tech or Syracuse. Offensively, we turned the ball over. We cost ourselves possessions. I think that was a similarity. If you combine that with them making some plays, all of a sudden, you've got a tough situation on your hands.

Q. Why do you think that the defensive intensity has been maybe a little bit inconsistent?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, I just -- they're playing the triple option. I mean, those guys know what they're doing. I didn't think it wasn't that we weren't prepared. I think they're very well coached. I don't know that anybody really totally -- I guess Clemson did shut Georgia Tech down. I didn't feel like -- I wasn't upset with it. When you go back and look at it, it wasn't like we weren't running to the ball or trying to make tackles or be physical. We had some short fields, and we gave up a couple big plays and made a couple of mistakes, and next thing you know, it's a pretty tough situation.

Q. Justin, since this is the school's first ever meeting with Notre Dame, so it will be everybody's first trip up there, there's a lot to get caught up in -- the tradition, the Golden Dome, et cetera. All of that ties up with Notre Dame football. Do you sense any kind of excitement on the part of your players just to go up and play against a storied program like that?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, I think they're excited to play. I think they're excited because we're playing a very talented team in what will be a hostile environment on the road in their place. I mean, we have tremendous respect for all the things that Notre Dame has done in the past.

So, yeah, I think we'll be excited to play, absolutely.

Q. Have you ever had a chance to be there? Sort of what do you expect? From the atmosphere standpoint.
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, I mean, no, I've never been there. I assume it will be loud.

Q. Obviously, a lot of new coaches in the Coastal Division. Have you seen the league just overall show a good amount of improvement this season?
JUSTIN FUENTE: Well, probably unfair for you to ask me that -- or unfair for me to answer that, not unfair for me to answer it. I didn't see them play last year. I think the programs are getting better, but I have no idea how good or bad Miami was last year or any of the other programs with new coaches.

I do think it's very promising. I do think there's good coaches and good players on this side of the league. I think everybody's hungry to continue to try and find a way to claw their way to the top, but I don't think there's a big difference between anybody, to be honest with you.

Q. Just conference-wide, is it important to -- it just seems in several ways the gap had closed between Clemson, Louisville, Florida State, and maybe the middle part of the conference.
JUSTIN FUENTE: I would say that's possibly true. Again, I'm sorry, we don't play Louisville, Clemson, or Florida State this year. I've seen them on TV. They look very, very good, but I'm far from an expert on how far the gap's closed.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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